wall street
As the “Internet of Things” grows, Texas Instruments’ strong focus on analog chips makes it one of our top U.S. stocks to invest in.
MONSANTO CO., $105.21, New York symbol MON, develops and sells technology-based agricultural products, such as genetically modified seeds, to farmers, grain processors and food companies. It also sells weed- and pest-control products. The company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings this week, but a weaker forecast for the full fiscal year caused the stock to fall 7%. In the third quarter of its 2015 fiscal year, which ended May 31, 2015, Monsanto earned $1.1 billion, up 33.0% from $858 million a year earlier. Earnings per share gained 47.5%, to $2.39 from $1.62, on fewer shares outstanding. That easily beat the consensus estimate of $2.07....
As it improves the performance of a big 2013 acquisition, ConAgra solidifies its position as one of our top stocks to buy in the U.S.
Throughout history, many nations have achieved great wealth and power, if only temporarily. These periods of military and/or financial success can lead to regional or global success. They can last a long time or a short one, but none lasts forever. Both beginning and end are erratic and unpredictable. The timing of both the rise and the fall surprises a lot of observers. Tiny countries like Holland, England and Portugal had their moments of glory. Huge countries like China and India had periods of great success, followed by weakness and failure. Many people now think the U.S. is coming to the end of a dominant period. Some delight at the thought, others despair. Something like this also happens in the stock market, on a shorter time scale. During these times, the stock goes into what we think of as “the broker/media limelight.”...
The “new global currency rules” idea is part of a marketing campaign by a promotional newsletter in the U.S. and an array of websites that link to it. The premise is that “on October 20th of this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will announce a reserve currency alternative to the U.S. dollar, which will send hundreds of billions of dollars moving around the world, literally overnight.” What in fact might happen is that later this year the IMF may include the Chinese yuan in its official basket of reserve currencies, called special drawing rights (SDRs)....
TD BANK $54.90 (Toronto symbol TD; Shares outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $100.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.7%; www.td.com) is Canada’s largest bank, with $1.03 trillion of assets. It also operates more branches in the U.S. than Canada (1,302 vs. 1,165) and owns 40.72% of TD Ameritrade (New York symbol AMTD), a leading online brokerage.
Excluding one-time items, TD’s earnings per share rose 4.6% in its fiscal second quarter ended April 30, 2015, to $1.14 from $1.09 a year earlier. Revenue gained 4.4%, to $7.8 billion from $7.4 billion, as low interest rates continue to spur loan demand.
The bank’s loan-loss provisions fell 4.3%, to $375 million from $392 million, because more U.S. credit card customers are repaying their loans on time.
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Excluding one-time items, TD’s earnings per share rose 4.6% in its fiscal second quarter ended April 30, 2015, to $1.14 from $1.09 a year earlier. Revenue gained 4.4%, to $7.8 billion from $7.4 billion, as low interest rates continue to spur loan demand.
The bank’s loan-loss provisions fell 4.3%, to $375 million from $392 million, because more U.S. credit card customers are repaying their loans on time.
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CONAGRA FOODS INC., $43.37, New York symbol CAG, jumped 11% on Friday on news that activist investment firm Jana Partners now owns 7.2% of the company. Jana will probably push ConAgra to sell or spin off its private-label food business. In January 2013, ConAgra paid $4.75 billion for Ralcorp Holdings, the largest private-label food maker in the U.S. However, strong competition has hurt its sales and earnings. As a result, ConAgra has had to writedown this investment by $2.1 billion. To put these figures in context, ConAgra’s market cap is $17.0 billion....
Quick to take the lead in changing trends, Google continues to rate as one of our best tech stocks
Google Fi will offer cellphone/smartphone service that uses Wi-Fi networks whenever possible. When Wi-Fi is unavailable, it will switch users to one of two existing cell networks, T-Mobile or Sprint, whichever is stronger at the customer’s location. The company plans to add more cell-network alternatives as they become available. The service will initially cost $20 a month, plus $10 for each gigabyte (GB) of data. That’s much cheaper than most cellphone plans. Moreover, the service will refund the pro-rata cost of unused data each month, which is unheard of in the wireless industry. To top it off, Fi will offer service in more than 120 countries at a far lower cost than you can get by using a U.S.-based cellphone (and U.S. cell rates are well below Canadian rates). More important, Google Fi will be vastly more convenient for travellers than any current alternative. Google Fi is the Internet search giant’s plan to disrupt what it sees as the high cost and ineffectiveness of U.S. carriers like AT&T (symbol T and a recommendation of Wall Street Stock Forecaster), Verizon (symbol VZ on New York and also a recommendation of Wall Street Stock Forecaster), T-Mobile and Sprint....
NEWMONT MINING CORP., $23.55, New York symbol NEM, is buying the Cripple Creek & Victor gold mine in Colorado from AngloGold Ashanti (New York symbol AU). The company will pay $820 million, which is equal to 7% of its $11.8-billion market cap (or the value of all outstanding shares). Newmont expects to complete the purchase in the third quarter of 2015. Cripple Creek will produce 350,000 to 400,000 ounces of gold a year once it completes its current expansion in 2016. To put that in context, Newmont expects to produce 4.6 million to 4.9 million ounces in 2015. The mine should last until at least 2026....